Jorge Cham (Creator of PhD Comics) giving his TED Talk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AzcMEwAxSP8

Dave & Harold Storyboard Pics

RoofKitty Tequilla

It was Summer 2012. My friend (Nick) had just finished his degree in English and I was in the middle of my research position in Chemistry. We couldn't have been as far apart from eachother's academic subjects and yet, one night we decided to embark on a project together, one which would combine our academic strengths and our common interests. As we sipped our tequilla cocktails into the early hours atop a rooftop overlooking the city (with our feline friend Blukitty) we realized that we shared an urge to tell stories and we had a passion for learning. More than that, we had an urge to tell stories which conveyed information, especially to a young audience, but in a very fun, engaging and visual way. We came to a few conclusions from our discussions that night:

a) textbooks can be a pretty dry and not so visual way for children to learn
b) we all learn better in visual ways
c) graphic novels are a great way to tell stories
d) informal engagement is a great tool for kids to learn and develop interests
e) strong tequilla cocktails give you a pretty bad headache the next day

So, there you have it. A story and a collaboration was born. Dave & Harold's Science Mysteries, a visually engaging info-graphic novel based upon the science mystery solving shenanigans of Dave and his pet cat Harold.